One of the major cost factors in the manufacturing of footwear is the assembly of the principal components into a finished shoe. A particularly time-consuming and thus costly step in the prior art involves attaching an insole, on which the foot will rest when it is inside the shoe, to an outsole, which actually contacts the ground.
In the prior art, an upper portion of the shoe is sewn to an insole, which must be carefully cut and trimmed. The insole is then aligned with a similarly cut and trimmed outsole and sewn thereto. The sewing is done by stitching around the entire edge of the two parts so that they are fastened together. The stitching must be done very tightly so as to prevent moisture from entering in between the insole and the outsole, and accordingly, it is either a very time consuming operation or it requires expensive machinery.